gonjah writes:
On 1/7/2014 9:52 AM, notbob wrote:
On 2014-01-07, gonjah wrote:

Best place I've seen for alkaline batteries is Costco. Kirkland
Signature AA are rated almost as good as Duracell and cost $.50 per.
Energizer Max and Gold are rated lower and cost more per Consumer Reports.

I don't know who rated what, but I do know KGO (channel 7) News, in
San Francisco, did a battery throwdown, every Christmas, for years.
They put about 6-7 brand name batteries in a buncha those little toy
monkies that jump up and down and crash two cymbols together. IOW, a
motorized toy, which is a good test of batteries. Last toy running
wins. Energizers have won by several hours for years.

Another test, one I did inadvertently. I put brand new AA Duracells
in a mini-maglite in my van, one winter. It got down to about 25 deg
F and when I came out next morning at o'-dark-thirty and turned on my
maglite, zip! Nada! Not even a weak dull orange glow. Later that
day, I checked again and the flashlight came on full strength. Next
moring, another sub-freezing night, dead as a doornail! I changed to
Energizers and never had that cold weather problem ever again.

Now living in CO, so I don't see channel 7, anymore, but do know I'll
never waste money on a Copper-Flop, ever again.

nb


The ratings were in the January Consumer Reports (page 7). I don't
usually get Duracells unless I need some right away. Can't recall any
issues. Someone once told me that Duracels were "oversized" so after you
use them you won't be able to use other batteries. I don't know if
that's true either. All sorts of rumors out there about battrees.

The Consumer Reports rated the Duracells #1 but suggests the Kirkland
Signature (#2) is the "best buy" coming in at 1/4 the price of
Energizers and Duracells.

I've used both the Kirklands and the Duracells, extensively. They both
last about the same time. However, the kirklands have been likely to
leak over long periods of non-use in my experience. Replacement on a
schedule, rather than when they no longer work, has alleviated that issue,
and the kirklands still remain less expensive than the duracells.